Each fall, UW–Madison takes an official snapshot of student enrollment on the 10th day of classes, known as the institution’s “census date.” These counts, also known as our “frozen enrollment” counts, are used in key reports and comparisons, such as DAPIR’s Trends in Enrollment data visualization, the Registrar’s Enrollment Report, the enrollment sections of the Common Data Set, and most of the student section of the Data Digest.
Using a consistent date for this reporting ensures that offices across the institution are all working from the same numbers—avoiding confusion about which enrollment figures are “correct.” Census date counts form the basis of our eventual IPEDS reporting to the National Center for Education Statistics, a mandatory federal data collection for institutions of higher education. IPEDS is one source of our peer comparison data, as our peer institutions also must report fall enrollment data to IPEDS from similar time periods.
While our frozen enrollment counts are great for trend data and analytic use, they don’t reflect every enrollment change during the semester, so they are not the recommended source for operational purposes that rely on daily enrollment numbers.
In short, census date reporting provides a foundation for understanding and sharing enrollment data and trends within UW-Madison and with external audiences and constituents.